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AN ESSAY 

ON AN 

ANCIENT PROPHETICAL INSCRIPTION, 

LATELY DISCOVERED NEAR LYNN, IN NORFOLK. 



BY PROBUS BRITANICUS, 
LONDON: 



PRINTED FOR J. BRETT, AT THE GOLDEN BALL, OPPO- 
SITE st. Clement's church, in the strand. 



¥ 

MDCCXXXIX. SJ 



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MARMOR NORFOLCIENSE ; 

AN ESSAY 
BY SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 



[This very curious and scarce Tract, by Dr. Samuel 
Johnson, (under the assumed name of Probus Britani- 
cus,) has never appeared in any edition of the works of 
that celebrated writer, — Its authenticity is fully established 
by Boswell, (vol. i. p. 74 — 75, 4to, 1791,) and by Hawkins, 
(8vo, p. 70 — 71, 2nd edit.) to which the reader is referred.] 



LONDON : 



Printed for J. M. RICHARDSON, Cornhill. 
1820. 



Maurice, Printer, Fenchurch-street 



M ARMOR NORFOLCIENSE, 



8fC fyc. 



In Norfolk, near the town of Lynn, in a field 
which an antient tradition of the country affirms 
to have been once a deep lake or meer, and 
which appears from authentic records to have 
been called, about two hundred years ago, 
Palus, or the Marsh, was discovered not long 
since a large square stone, which is found upon 
an exact inspection to be a kind of coarse mar- 
ble, of a substance not firm enough to admit of 
being polished, yet harder than our common 
quarries afford, and not easily susceptible of 
injuries from weather or outward accidents. 

It was brought to light by a farmer, who, observ- 
ing his plough obstructed by something, through 



2 



MARMOR NORFOLCIENSE, 



which the share could not make its way, ordered 
his servants to remove it. This was not effected 
without some difficulty, the stone being three 
feet four inches deep, and four feet square in the 
superficies, and consequently of a weight not 
easily manageable. However, by the applica- 
tion of levers, it was at length raised, and con- 
veyed to a corner of the field, where it lay for 
some months entirely unregarded : nor, perhaps, 
had we ever been made acquainted with this 
venerable relique of antiquity, had not our good 
fortune been greater than our curiosity. 

A gentleman, well known to the learned 
world, and distinguished by the patronage of the 
Mcecenas of Norfolk, whose name, was I per- 
mitted to mention it, would excite the attention 
of my reader, and add no small authority to my 
conjectures, observing, as he was walking that 
way, that the clouds began to gather and threaten 
him with a shower, had recourse for shelter to the 
trees under which this stone happened to lie, and 
sat down upon it in expectation of fair weather. 
At length, he began to amuse himself in his con- 
finement, by clearing the earth from his seat with 
the point of his cane ; and had continued this 
employment some time, when he observed 
several tracer of letters antique and irregular, 



MARMOR NORFOLCIENSE. O 

which, by being very deeply engraven, were still 
easily distinguishable. 

This discovery so far raised his curiosity, that, 
going home immediately, he procured an instru- 
ment for cutting out the clay that filled up the 
spaces of the letters, and with very little labour 
made the inscription legible, which is here ex- 
hibited to the public. 

POST-GENITIS. 

Cunr Lapidem hum, magni 
Qui nuncjacet hicola stagni, 

Vel Pede Equus ta?iget, 
Vel Arator vomerefranget, 

Sentiet ccgra Metus, 
Effundet P atria Fletus, 

Littoraque ut Fluctu, 
Resonabunt Oppida Luctu: 

Namfacunda rubri 
Serpent per Prat a Colubri, 

Gramina vastantes, 
Flores Fructusque vorantes, 

Omnia fxdantes, 
Vitiantes, et spoliantes ; 

Quanquam haud pugnaces, 
Ibunt per cuncta Minaces, 

Fures absque Timore, 
Etpingues absque Labore, 



4 



MARMOR NORFOLCIENSE. 



Horrida dementes 
Rapiet Discordia Gentes, 

Plurima tunc Leges 
Mutabit, plurima Reges 

Natio, conversd 

In Rabiem tunc contremet Ursa 

Cynthia, tunc latis 
Florebunt Lilia Pratis, 

Necfremere audebit 
Leo, sed violare timebit, 

Omnia consuetus 
Populari Pascua lotus. 

Ante Oculos Natos 
Calceatos et Cruciatos. 

Jamferet ignavus, 
Vetitaque Libidine pravus. 

En quoque quod Mirum, 
Quod dicas denique dirum, 

Sanguinem Lquus sugit, 
Neque Bellua victa remugit. 

These lines he carefully copied, accompanied, 
in his Letter of July 19, with the following 
translation : 



TO POSTERITY. 

Whene'er this stone, now hid beneath the lake, 
The horse shall trample, or the plough shall break, 



MARMOR NORFOLCIENSE. O 

Then, O my Country ! shalt thou groan distrest, 
Grief swell thine eyes, and terror chill thy breast. 
Thy streets with violence of zcoe shall sound, 
Loud as the billozes bursting on the ground. 
Then thro' thy fields shall scarlet reptiles stray, 
And Rapine and Pollution mark their zcay. 
Their hungry szvarms the peaceful vale shall fright, 
Still fierce to threaten, still afraid to fight ; 
The teeming years zchole product shall devour, 
Insatiate pluck the fruit, and crop thefiozvW : 
Shall glutton on the industrious peasant's spoil, 
Rob zoithout fear, and fatten zvithout toil.** 
Then o'er the world shall Discord stretch her wings, 
Kings change their laws, and kingdoms change their 

kings. 
The bear, enrag'd, tti affrighted moon shall dread ; 
The lilies o'er the vales triumphant spread ; 
Nor shall the lion, zvont of old to reign 
Despotic o'er the desolated plain, 
Henceforth tK inviolable bloom invade, 
Or dare to murmur in the flow' ry glade ; 
His tortured sons shall die before his face, 
While he lies melting in a lezod embrace ; 
And yet, more strange ! his veins a horse shall drain, 
Nor shall the passive coward once complain. 



I make not the least doubt, but that this learn- 
ed person has given us, as an antiquary, a true 
and uncontrovertible representation of the wri- 



6 



MARMOR NORFOLCIENSE. 



ter's meaning, and am sure he can confirm it by 
innumerable quotations from the authors of the 
middle age, should he be publicly called upon 
by any man of eminent rank in the republic of 
letters ; nor will he deny the world that satisfac- 
tion, provided the animadverter proceeds with 
that sobriety and modesty, with which it be- 
comes every learned man to treat a subject of 
such importance. 

Yet, with all proper deference to a name so 
justly celebrated, I will take the freedom of 
observing that he has succeeded better as a 
scholar than a poet; having fallen below the 
strength, the conciseness, and at the same time 
below the perspicuity, of his author. I shall not 
point out the particular passages in which this 
disparity is remarkable, but content myself with 
saying in general, that the criticisms, which there 
is room for on this translation, maybe almost an 
incitement to some lawyer, studious of antiquity, 
to learn Latin, 

The inscription which I now proceed to con- 
sider, wants no arguments to prove its antiquity, 
to those among the learned, who are versed in 
the writers of the darker ages, and know that 
the Latin poetry of those times was of a pecu- 
liar cast and air, not easy to be understood, and 



MARMOR NORFOLCIENSE. 7 

very difficult to be imitated ; nor can it be con- 
ceived that any man would lay out his abilities 
on a way of writing, which, though attained with 
much study, could gain him no reputation, and 
engrave his chimaeras on a stone to astonish 
posterity. 

Its antiquity therefore is out of dispute ; but 
how high a degree of antiquity is to be assigned 
it, there is more ground for inquiry than deter- 
mination. How early Latin rhymes made their 
appearance in the world is yet undecided by the 
critics. Verses of this kind were called Leonine; 
but whence they derived that appellation, the 
learned Camden confesses himself ignorant, so 
that the stile carries no certain marks of its age. 
I shall only observe farther on this head, that 
the characters are nearly of the same form with 
those on King Arthur's coffin ; but whether from 
their similitude we may venture to pronounce 
them of the same date, I must refer to the de- 
cision of better judges. 

Our inability to fix the age of this inscription 
necessarily infers our ignorance of its author, 
with relation to whom many controversies may 
be started, worthy of the most profound learning 
and most indefatigable diligence. 

The first question that naturally arises is, 



8 MARMOR NORFOLCIENSE. 

whether he was a Briton or a Saxon. I had at 
first conceived some hope, that in this question, 
in which not only the idle curiosity of virtuosos, 
but the honor of two mighty nations, is concern- 
ed, some information might be drawn from the 
word P atria, (my country,) in the third line ; 
England being not in propriety of speech the 
country of the Saxons; at least, not at their first 
arrival. But upon farther reflection this argu- 
ment appeared not conclusive, since we find that, 
in all ages, foreigners have affected to call Eng- 
land their country, even when, like the Saxons of 
old, they came only to plunder it. 

An argument, in favour of the Britons, may 
indeed be drawn from the tenderness, with 
which the author seems to lament his country, 
and the compassion he shows for its approaching 
calamities. I, who am a descendant from the 
Saxons, and therefore unwilling to say any thing 
derogatory from the reputation of my forefathers, 
must yet allow this argument its full force : for 
it has been rarely, very rarely, known, that fo- 
reigners, however well treated, caressed, enrich- 
ed, flattered, or exalted, have regarded this 
country with the least gratitude or affection, till 
the race has, by long continuance, after many 
generations, heen naturalized and assimilated. 



MARMOR NORFOLCIENSE. 



9 



They have been ready upon all occasions to 
prefer the petty interests of their own country, 
though perhaps only some desolate and worth- 
less corner of the world. They have employed 
the wealth of England in paying troops to de- 
fend mud-wall towns, and uninhabitable rocks, 
and in purchasing barriers for territories of which 
the natural sterility secured them from invasion. 

This argument, which wants no particular in- 
stances to confirm it, is, I confess, of the greatest 
weight in this question, and inclines me strongly 
to believe that the benevolent author of this 
prediction must have been born a Briton. 

The learned discoverer of the inscription was 
pleased to insist with great warmth upon the ety- 
mology of the word Patria, which signifying, says 
he, the land of my father, could be made use of 
by none, but such whose ancestors had resided 
here; but in answer to this demonstration, as he 
called it, I only desired him to take notice, how 
common it is for intruders of yesterday, to pre- 
tend the same title with the antient proprietors ; 
and, having just received an estate by voluntary 
grant, to erect a claim of hereditary right. 

Nor is it less difficult to form any satisfactory 
conjecture concerning the rank or condition of 
the writer, who, contented with a consciousness 

c 






10 MARMOR NORFOLCIENSE. 

of having done his duty, in leaving this solemn 
warning to his country, seems studiously to have 
avoided that veneration, to which his knowledge 
of futurity undoubtedly entitled him, and those 
honors which his memory might justly claim 
from the gratitude of posterity ; and has therefore 
left no trace, by which the most sagacious and 
diligent inquirer can hope to discover him. 

This conduct alone ought to convince us, that 
the prediction is of no small importance to man- 
kind, since the author of it appears not to have 
been influenced by any other motive, than that 
noble and exalted philanthropy which is above 
the narrow views of recompense or applause. 

That interest had no share in this inscription, 
is evident beyond dispute, since the age in which 
he lived received neither pleasure nor instruction 
from it. Nor is it less apparent, from the sup- 
pression of his name, that he was equally a 
stranger to that wild desire of fame, which has 
sometimes infatuated the noblest minds. 

His modesty, however, has not been able 
wholly to extinguish that curiosity, which so 
naturally leads us, when we admire a perform- 
ance, to inquire after the author. Those whom 
I have consulted on this occasion, and my zeal 
for the honor of this benefactor of my country 



MARMOR NORFOLCIENSE. 11 

has not suffered me to forget a single antiquary 
of reputation, have almost unanimously deter- 
mined, that it was written by a king. For, 
where else, said they, are we to expect that 
greatness of mind, and that dignity of expression, 
so eminently conspicuous in this inscription ? 

It is with a proper sense of the weakness of 
my own abilities, that I venture to lay before the 
public the reasons which hinder me from con- 
curring with this opinion, which I am not only 
inclined to favor by my respect for the authors 
of it, but by a natural affection to monarchy, 
and a prevailing inclination to believe that every 
excellence is inherent in a king. 

To condemn an opinion so agreeable to the 
reverence due to the regal dignity, and counte- 
nanced by so great authorities, without a long 
and accurate discussion, would be a temerity 
justly liable to the severest censures. A super- 
cilious and arrogant determination of a contro- 
versy of such importance, would, doubtless, be 
treated by the impartial and candid with the 
utmost indignation. 

But as I have too high an idea of the learning 
of my contemporaries, to obtrude any crude, 
hasty, orindigested, notions on the public, I have 
proceeded with the utmost degree of diffidence 



12 



MARMOR NORFOLCIENSE. 



and caution ; I have frequently reviewed all my 
arguments, traced them backwards to their first 
principles, and used every method of examina- 
tion to discover whether all the deductions were 
natural and just, and whether I was not imposed 
on by some specious fallacy ; but, the farther I 
carried my inquiries, and the longer I dwelt 
upon this great point, the more was 1 convinced, 
in spite of all my prejudices, that this wonderful 
prediction was not written by a king. 

For, after a laborious and attentive perusal of 
Histories, Memoirs, Chronicles, Lives, Charac- 
ters, Vindications, Panegyrics, and Epitaphs, 
I could find no sufficient authority for ascribing 
to any of our English Monarchs, however 
gracious or glorious, any prophetical knowledge 
or prescience of futurity; which, when we con- 
sider how rarely regal virtues are forgotten, how 
soon they are discovered, and how loudly they 
are celebrated, affords a probable argument, at 
least, that none of them have laid any claim to 
this character. For why should historians have 
omitted to embellish their accounts with such a 
striking circumstance ; or, if the histories of that 
age are lost by length of time, why was not so 
uncommon an excellence transmitted to posterity 
in the more lasting colors of poetry ? Was that 



MARMOR NORFOLCIENSE. 13 

unhappy age without a laureat? Was there then 
no Young or Philips, no Ward or Mitchel, to 
snatch such wonders from oblivion, and im- 
mortalize a prince of such capacities ? If this 
were really the case,letus congratulate ourselves 
upon being reserved for better days, days so 
fruitful of happy writers, that no princely virtue 
can shine in vain. Our monarchs are surround- 
ed with refined spirits, so penetrating that they 
frequently discover in their masters great quali- 
ties invisible to vulgar eyes, and which, did not 
they publish them to mankind, would be unob- 
served for ever. 

Nor is it easy to find, in the lives of our mo- 
narchs,many instances of that regard for posterity, 
which seems to have been the prevailing temper 
of this venerable man. I have seldom, in any of 
the gracious speeches delivered from the throne, 
and received with the highest gratitude and 
satisfaction by both houses of parliament, dis- 
covered any other concern than for the current 
year, for which supplies are generally demanded 
in very pressing terms, and sometimes such as 
imply no remarkable solicitude for posterity. 

Nothing indeed can be more unreasonable 
and absurd, than to require that a monarch, dis- 
tracted with cares and surrounded with enemies, 



14 MARMOR NORFOLCIENSE. 

should involve himself in superfluous anxieties 
by an unnecessary concern about future genera- 
tions. Are not pretenders, mock patriots, mas- 
querades, operas, birth-nights, treaties, conven- 
tions, reviews, drawing rooms, the births of heirs 
and the deaths of queens, sufficient to over- 
whelm any capacity but that of a king ? Surely, 
he that acquits himself successfully of such af- 
fairs, may content himself with the glory he ac- 
quires, and leave posterity to his successors. 

That this has been the conduct of most 
princes, is evident from the accounts of all 
ages and nations, and therefore I hope it will 
not be thought that I have, without just reasons, 
deprived this inscription of the veneration it 
might demand as the work of a king. 

With what laborious struggles against pre- 
judice and inclination, with what efforts of 
reasoning, and pertinacity of self-denial, I have 
prevailed upon myself to sacrifice the honor 
of this monument to the love of truth, none 
who are unacquainted with the fondness of a 
commentator will be able to conceive. But 
this instance will be, I hope, sufficient to con- 
vince the public that I write with sincerity, and 
that, whatever my success maybe, my intentions 
are good. 



MARMOR NORFOLCIENSE. 15 

Where we are to look for our author it still 
remains to be considered, whether in the high 
road of public employments, or the by-paths of 
private life. 

It has always been observed of those that 
frequent a court, that they soon, by a kind of 
contagion, catch the regal spirit of neglecting 
futurity. The minister forms an expedient to 
suspend or perplex an inquiry into his measures 
for a few months, and applauds and triumphs in 
his own dexterity. The peer puts off his cre- 
ditor for the present day, and forgets that he is 
ever to see him more. The frown of a prince 
and the loss of a pension have indeed been found 
of wonderful efficacy, to abstract men's thoughts 
from the present time, and fill them with zeal for 
the liberty and welfare of ages to come. But 
I am inclined to think more favourably of the 
author of this prediction, than that he was made 
a patriot by disappointment or disgust. If he 
ever saw a court, I would willingly believe, that 
he did not owe his concern for posterity to his 
ill reception there, but his ill reception there to 
his concern for posterity. 

However, since truth is the same in the mouth 
of a hermit, or a prince ; since it is not reason but 
weakness, that makes us rate counsel by our 



16 



MARMOR NORFOLCIENSE. 



esteem for the counsellor; let us at length desist 
from this inquiry, so useless in itself, in which we 
have room to hope for so little satisfaction. Let 
us show our gratitude to the author, by answer- 
ing his intentions, by considering minutely the 
lines which he has left us, and examining their 
import without heat, precipitancy, or party-pre- 
judices; let us endeavour to keep the just mean, 
between searching ambitiously for far-fetched 
interpretations, and admitting such low meaning, 
and obvious and low sense, as is inconsistent 
with those great and extensive views, which it is 
reasonable to ascribe to this excellent man. 

It may be yet farther asked, whether this in- 
scription, which appears in the stone, be an ori- 
ginal, and not rather a version of a traditional 
prediction in the old British tongue, which the 
zeal of some learned man prompted him to 
translate and engrave in a more known language 
for the instruction of future ages ; but, as the lines 
carry at the first view a reference both to the 
stone itself, and very remarkably to the place 
where it was found, I cannot see any foundation 
for such a suspicion. 

It remains now that we examine the sense 
and import of the inscription, which, after having 
long dwelt upon it with the closest and most 






MARMOR NORFOLCIENSE. 17 

laborious attention, I must confess myself not 
yet able fully to comprehend. The following 
explications, therefore, are by no means laid 
down as certain and indubitable truths, but as 
conjectures not always wholly satisfactory even 
to myself, and which I had not dared to propose 
to so enlightened an age, an age which abounds 
with those great ornaments of human nature, 
sceptics, auti-moralists, and infidels, but with 
hopes that they would excite some person of 
greater abilities, to penetrate farther into the ora- 
culous obscurity of this wonderful prediction. 

Not even the four first lines are without their 
difficulties, in which the time of the discovery of 
the stone seems to be the time assigned for the 
events foretold by it. 

Cum Lapidem hum, magni 
Qui nuncjacet Incola stagni, 

Vel Pede Equus tanget, 
Vel Arator vomerefranget, 

Sentiet cegra Metus, 
Effundet P atria Fief us, 

Littoraque ut Fluctu, 
Resonabunt Oppida Luctu. 

Whene'er this stone, noxo hid beneath the lake, 
The horse shall trample, or the plough shall break, 
D 



18 MARMOR NORFOLCIENSE. 

Then, O my country! shalt thou groan distrest, 
Grief in thine eyes, and terror in thy breast ; 
Thy streets zoith violence of woe shall sound, 
Loud as the billozos bursting on the ground. 

When this stone, says he, which now lies hid 
beneath the waters of a deep lake, shall be struck 
upon by the horse or broken by the plough, 
then shalt thou, my country, be astonished with 
terrors, and drowned in tears ; then shall thy 
towns sound with lamentations, as thy shores with 
the roarings of the waves. These are the words 
literally rendered, but how are they verified ? 
The lake is dry, the stone is turned up ; but there 
is no appearance of this dismal scene. Is not 
all at home satisfaction and tranquility? all 
abroad, submission and compliance ? Is it the in- 
terest or inclination of any prince or state to 
draw a sword against us ? and are we not never- 
theless secured by a numerous standing army, 
and a king who is himself an army? Have our 
troops any other employment than to march to 
a review ? have our fleets encountered any thing 
but winds and worms ? To me, the present state 
of the nation seems so far from any resemblance 
to the noise and agitation of a tempestuous sea, 
that it may be much more properly compared to 
the dead stillness of the waves before a storm. 



MARMOR NORFOLCIENSE. 19 

Namfacunda rubri 
Serpent per Patria Colubri, 

Gr amino, vast antes, 
Flores Fructusque vorantes, 

Omnia f&dantcs, 
Vitiantes, et spoliantes ; 

Quanquam haud pugnaces i 
Ibunt per cuncta Minaces, 

Fures absque Timore, 

Et pingues absque JLabore, 

Then through thy fields shall scarlet reptiles stray. 
And rapine and pollution mark their zvay. 
Their hungry swarms the peaceful vale shall fright, 
Still fierce to threaten, still afraid to fight ; 
The teemiug year's whole product shall devour, 
Insatiate pluck the fruit, and crop thefiow 9 r ; 
Shall glutton on the industrious peasant' 's spoil, 
Rob without fear, and fatten without toil. 

He seems in these verses to descend to a par- 
ticular account of this dreadful calamity ; but 
his description is capable of very different senses 
with almost equal probability. 

Med Serpents, says he, (rubri colubri are the 
Latin words, which the poetical translator has 
rendered scarlet reptiles, using a general term 
for a particular, in my opinion, too licentiously,) 
Red Serpents shall wander o'er her meadows and 



20 



MARMOR NORFOLCIENSK. 



pillage and pollute, fyc. The particular mention 
of the color of this destructive viper may be 
some guide to us in this labyrinth, through which, 
I must acknowledge, I cannot yet have any cer- 
tain path. I confess, that when, a few days after 
my perusal of this passage, I heard of the mul- 
titude of lady-birds seen in Kent, I began to 
imagine that these were the fatal insects, by 
which the Island was to he laid waste ; and 
therefore looked over all accounts of them with 
uncommon concern. But, when my first terrors 
began to subside, I soon recollected that these 
creatures, having both wings and feet, would 
scarcely have been called serpents ; and was 
quickly convinced, by their leaving the country 
without doing any hurt, that they had no quality, 
but the color, in common with the ravagers here 
described. 

As I am not able to determine any thing on 
this question, I shall content myself with collect- 
ing, into one view, the several properties of this 
pestiferous brood, with which we are threatened, 
as hints to more sagacious and fortunate readers, 
who, when they shall find any red animal that 
ranges uncontrouled over the country, and de- 
vours the labours of the trader, and the husband- 
man; that carries with it corruption, rapine, 



MARMOR NORFOLCIENSE. 21 

pollution, and devastation ; that threatens with- 
out courage, robs without fear, and is pampered 
without labour; — they may know that the predic- 
tion is completed. Let me only remark farther, 
that, if the stile of this as of all other predictions 
is figurative, the serpent, a wretched animal that 
crawls upon the earth, is a proper emblem of low 
views and self-interest, base submission, as well 
as of cruelty, mischief, and malevolence. 

I cannot forbear to observe in this place, that, 
as it is of no advantage to mankind to be fore- 
warned of inevitable and insurmountable mis- 
fortunes, the author probably intended to 
hint to his countrymen, the proper remedies for 
the evils he describes. In this calamity, on which 
he dwells longest, and which he seems to deplore 
with the deepest sorrow, he points out one cir- 
cumstance which may be of great use to dis- 
perse our apprehensions, and awaken us from 
that panic which the reader must necessarily 
feel, at the first transient view of this dreadful 
description. These serpents, says the original, 
are hand pugnaces, of no fighting race : they 
will threaten, indeed, and hiss, and terrify the 
weak, and timorous, and thoughtless ; but have 
no real courage or strength. So that the mis- 
chief done by them, their ravages, devastations, 



22 MARMOR NORFOLCIENSE. 

and robberies, must be only the consequences of 
cowardice in the sufferers, who are harassed 
and oppressed only because they suffer it with- 
out resistance. We are therefore to remember, 
whenever the pest here threatened shall invade 
us, that submission and tameness will be certain 
ruin, and that nothing but spirit, vigilance, acti- 
vity, and opposition, can preserve us from the 
most hateful and reproachful misery, that of be- 
ing plundered, starved, and devoured, by vermin 
and by reptiles. 

Horrida dementes 
Rapiet Discordia gentes, 

Plurima tunc Leges 
Mutabit, plurima Reges, 

Natioy 

Then o'er the world shall discord stretch her wings, 
Kings change their laws, and kingdoms change their kings. 

Here the author takes a general survey of the 
state of the world, and the changes that were to 
happen about the time of the discovery of this 
monument, in many nations. As it is not likely 
that he intended to touch upon the affairs of 
other countries, any farther than the advantage 
of his own made it necessary, we may reason- 
ably conjecture, that he had a full and distinct 



MARMOR NORFOLCIENSE. 23 

view of all the negotiations, treaties, confedera- 
cies, of all the triple and quadruple alliances, and 
all the leagues offensive and defensive, in which 
we were to be engaged, either as principals, ac- 
cessories, or guarantees, whether by policy, or 
hope, or fear, or our concern for preserving the 
balance of power, or our tenderness for the liber- 
ties of Europe. He knew that our negotiators 
would interest us in the affairs of the whole earth, 
and that no state could either rise or decline in 
power, either extend or lose its dominions, with- 
out affecting our politics and influencing our 
councils. 

This passage will bear an easy and natural ap- 
plication to the present time, in which so many 
revolutions have happened, so many nations 
have changed their masters, and so many dis- 
putes and commotions are embroiling almost in 
every part of the world. 

That almost every state in Europe and Asia, 
that is, almost every country then known, is com- 
prehended in this prediction, may be easily con- 
ceived ; but whether it extends to regions at that 
time undiscovered, and portends any alteration 
of government in Carolina and Georgia, let 
more able or more daring expositors determine. 



24 M ARMOR NORFOLCIENSE. 



Conversa 



In Rabiem tunc contremet Ursa 
Cynthia, 

The bear, enrag'd, th' affrighted moon shall dread; 

The terror created to the moon by the anger 
of the bear, is a strange expression ; but may per- 
haps relate to the apprehensions raised in the 
Turkish empire, of which a crescent, or new 
moon, is the imperial standard, by the increasing 
power of the empress of Russia, whose domi- 
nions lie under the northern constellation called 
the bear. 

Tunc latis 



Florebunt Lilia Pratis, 
The lilies o'er the vales triumphant spread ; 

The lilies, borne by the kings of France, are 
an apt representation of that country ; and their 
flourishing over wide extended valleys, seems to 
regard the new increase of the French power, 
wealth, and dominions, by the advancement of 
their trade, and the accession of Lorain. This 
is at the first view an obvious, but perhaps for 
that very reason not the true, inscription. How 
^can we reconcile it with the following passage ? 



MARMOR NORFOLCIENSE. 25 

Necfremere audebit 
Leo, sed violare timebit, 

Omnio consuetus 
Populari Pascua latus. 

Nor shall the lion, wont of old to reign 
Despotic o'er the desolated plain, 
Henceforth th* inviolable bloom invade, 
Or dare to murmur in theflozdry glade ; 

In which the lion, that used at pleasure to lay 
the pastures waste, is represented as not daring 
to touch the lilies, or murmur at their growth ; 
the lion, it is true, is one of the supporters of the 
arms of England, and may therefore figure our 
countrymen, who have in antient times made 
France a desert. But can it be said, that the 
lion dares not murmur or rage (for fr enter e may 
import both,) when it is evident that, for many 
years, this whole kingdom has murmured ! how- 
ever, it may be at present calm and secure, by 
its confidence in the wisdom of our politicians, 
and the address of our negociators. 

Ante Oculos Natos 
Calceatoset Cruciatos. 

Jamferet ignavus, 
Fetitdque Libidine pravus, 
E 



26 MARMOR NORFOLCIENSE. 

His tortur'd sons shall die before his face, 
While he lies melting in a lezod embrace. 

Here are other things mentioned of the lion, 
equally unintelligible, if we suppose them to be 
spoken of our nation ; as, that she lies sluggish, 
and depraved with unlawful lusts, while his off- 
spring is trampled and tortured before his eyes. 
But in what place can the English be said to be 
trampled or tortured ? Where are they treated 
with injustice or contempt? What nation is 
there, from pole to pole, that does not reverence 
the nod of the British king? Is not our com- 
merce unrestrained ■? Are not the riches of the 
world our own, do not our ships sail unmolested, 
and our merchants traffic in perfect security? 
Is not the very name of England treated by fo- 
reigners, in a manner never known before ? Or, 
if some slight injuries have been offered, if some 
of our petty traders have been stopped, our pos- 
sessions threatened, our effects confiscated, our 
flag insulted, or our ears cropped, have we lain 
sluggish and unactive ? Have not our fleets been 
seen in triumph, at Spithead ! did not Hosier 
visit the Bastimentos, and is not Haddock now 
stationed at Port Mahon ? 



MARMOR NORFOLCIENSE. 27 

En quoque quod Mirum, 
Quod dicas denique dirum, 

Sanguiuem Equus sugit, 
Neque Bellua Dicta remugit. 

And yet , more strange ! his veins a horse shall drain, 
Nor shall the passive coward once complain. 

It is farther asserted, in the concluding lines, 
that the horse shall suck the lion's blood. This 
is still more obscure than any of the rest ; and, 
indeed, the difficulties I have met with ever since 
the first mention of the lion, are so many and 
great, that I had, in utter despair of surmounting 
them, once desisted from my design of publish- 
ing any thing upon this subject ; but was pre- 
vailed upon by the importunity of some friends, 
to whom I can deny nothing, to resume my de- 
sign ; and I must own, that nothing animated me 
so much as the hope they flattered me with, 
that my essay might be inserted in the gazetteer, 
and so become of service to my country. 

That a weaker animal should suck the blood 
of a stronger without resistance, is wholly im- 
probable, and inconsistent, with the regard for 
self-preservation, so observable in every order 
and species of beings. We must therefore ne- 



28 MARMOR NORFOLCIENSE. 

cessarily endeavour after some figurative sense* 
not liable to so insuperable an objection. 

Were I to proceed in the same tenor of inter- 
pretation, by which I explained the moon and 
the lilies, I might observe that a horse is borne 
in the arms of the house of H — — -. But, how 
then does the horse suck the lion's blood? Mo- 
ney is the blood of the body politic. — But my 
zeal for the present happy establishment will not 
suffer me to pursue a train of thought that leads 
to such shocking conclusions. The idea is de- 
testable, and such as, it ought to be hoped, can 
enter into the mind of none but a violent repub- 
lican, or bloody Jacobite. There is not one 
honest man in the nation, unconvinced how weak 
an attempt it would be to endeavour to confute 
this insinuation. An insinuation which no par- 
ty will dare to abet, and of so fatal and destruc- 
tive a tendency, that it may prove equally dan- 
gerous to the author, whether true or false. 

As, therefore, I can form no hypothesis on 
which a consistent interpretation may be built, 
I must leave these loose and unconnected hints 
entirely to the candour of the reader ; and con- 
fess that I do not think my scheme of explication 
just, since I cannot apply it throughout the 
whole, without involving myself in difficulties 



MARMOR NORFOLCIENSE. 29 

from which the ablest interpreter would find it 
no easy matter to get free. 

Being therefore convinced, upon an attentive 
and deliberate review of these observations, and 
a consultation with my friends, of whose abilities 
I have the highest esteem, and whose impartia- 
lity, sincerity, and probity, I have long known 
and frequently experienced, that my conjectures 
are in general very uncertain, often improbable, 
and sometimes little less than apparently false, 
I was long in doubt, whether I ought not entirely 
to suppress them, and content myself with pub- 
lishing, in the Gazetteer, the inscription, as it 
stands engraven on the stone, without translation 
or commentary, unless that ingenious and learn- 
ed society should favor the world with their 
own remarks. 

To this scheme, which I thought extremely 
well calculated for the public good, and there- 
fore very eagerly communicated to my acquaint- 
ance and fellow students, some objections were 
started, which, as I had not foreseen, I was un- 
able to answer. 

It was observed, first, that the daily disserta- 
tions published by that fraternity are written 
with such profundity of sentiment, and filled 
with such uncommon modes of expression, as to 



30 MARMOR NORFOLCIENSE. 






be themselves sufficiently unintelligible to vulgar 
readers, and that therefore the venerable obscu- 
rity of this prediction would much less excite 
the curiosity and awaken the attention of man- 
kind, than if it were exhibited in any other paper, 
and placed in opposition to the clear and easy 
stile of an author generally understood. 

To this argument, formidable as it was, I an- 
swered, after a short pause, that, with all proper 
deference to the great sagacity and advanced 
age of the objector, I could not but conceive that 
his position confuted itself; and that a reader of 
the Gazetteer, being, by his own confession, ac- 
customed to encounter difficulties, and search 
for meaning where it was not easily to be found, 
must be better prepared than any other man, for 
the perusal of these ambiguous expressions. 
And that, besides, the explication of this stone, 
being a task, which nothing could surmount but 
the most acute penetration, joined with indefati- 
gable patience, seemed in reality reserved for 
those who have given proofs of both in the high- 
est degree, by reading and understanding the 
Gazetteer. 

This answer satisfied every one but the ob- 
jector, who, with an obstinacy not very uncom- 
mon, adhered to his own opinion, though he 



MARMOR NORFOLCIENSE. 81 

could not defend it ; and not being able to make 
any reply, attempted to laugh away my argu- 
ment, but found the rest of my friends so little 
disposed to jest upon this important question, 
that he was forced to restrain his mirth, and con- 
tent himself with a sullen and contemptuous si- 
lence. 

Another of my friends, whom I had assembled 
on this occasion, having owned the solidity of 
my answer to the first objection, offered a second, 
which in his opinion could not be so easily de- 
feated. 

" I have observed "says he," that the essays in 
the Gazetteer, though written on very important 
subjects, by the ablest hands which ambition 
can incite, friendship engage, or money procure, 
have never, though circulated through the king- 
dom with the utmost application, had any re- 
markable influence upon the people. I know 
many persons of no common capacity, that hold 
it sufficient to peruse these papers four times a 
year ; and others who receive them regularly, 
and without looking upon them, treasure them 
under ground for the benefit of posterity. So 
that the inscription may, by being inserted there, 
sink once more into darkness and oblivion, in- 
stead of informing the age, and assisting our 



32 MARMOR NORFOLCIENSE. 

present ministry in the regulation of their mea- 
sures." 

Another observed, that nothing was more un- 
reasonable than my hope, that any remarks or 
elucidations would be drawn up by that frater- 
nity, since their own employments do not allow 
them any leisure for such attempts. Every one 
knows, that panegyric is in its own nature no 
easy task, and that to defend is much more dif- 
ficult than to attack ; consider, then, says he, 
what industry, what assiduity, it must require, to 
praise and vindicate a ministry like ours. 

It was hinted by another, that an inscription 
which had no relation to any particular set of 
men amongst us, but was composed many ages 
before the parties, which now divide the nation, 
had a being, could not be so properly conveyed 
to the world by means of a paper, dedicated to 
political debates. 

Another, to whom I had communicated my 
own observations in a more private manner, and 
who had inserted some of his own arguments, 
declared it as his opinion, that they were, 
though very controvertible and unsatisfactory, 
yet too valuable to be lost : and that, though 
to insert the inscription in a paper, of which such 
numbers are daily distributed at the expense of 






MARMOR NORFOLCIENSE. 33 

the public, would doubtless be very agreeable 
to the generous design of the author, yet he 
hoped, that, as all the students, either of politics 
or antiquities, would receive both pleasure and 
improvement from the dissertation with which it 
is accompanied, none of them would regret to 
pay for so agreeable an entertainment. 

It cannot be wondered, that I at last have 
yielded to such weighty reasons, and such insi- 
nuating compliments, and chosen to gratify at 
once the inclination of friends and the vanity of 
an author. Yet, I should think I had very im- 
perfectly discharged my duty to my country, 
did I not warn all, whom either interest or curio- 
sity shall incite to the perusal of this treatise, 
not to lay any stress uponlny explications. 

How a more complete and indisputable inter- 
pretation may be obtained, it is not easy to say. 
This will, I suppose, be readily granted, that it 
is not to be expected from any single hand, but 
from the joint inquiries and united labors of a 
numerous society of able men, instituted by au- 
thority, selected with great discernment and 
impartiality, and supported at the charge of the 
nation. 

I am very far from apprehending, that any 
proposal for the attainment of so desirable an 



34 MARMOR NORFOLCIENSE. 

end will be rejected by this inquisitive and en- 
lightened age, and shall therefore lay before the 
public, the project which I have formed and ma 
tured by long consideration, for the institutioi 
of a society of commentators upon this inscrip- 
tion. A 

I humbly propose, that thirty, of the most dis- 
tinguished genius, be chosen for this employment, 
half from the inns of court, and half from the 
army, and be incorporated into a Society for five 
years, under the name of the SOCIETY OF 
COMMENTATORS. 

That great undertakings can only be executed 
by a great number of hands, is too evident to 
require any proof; and 1 am afraid all that 
read this scheme, will think that it is chiefly de- 
fective in this respect, and that, when they re- 
flect how many commissioners were thought ne- 
cessary at Seville, and that even their negocia- 
tions entirely miscarried, probably for want of 
more associates, they will conclude that I have 
proposed impossibilities, and that the ends of 
the institution will be defeated by an injudici- 
ous and ill-timed frugality. 

But if it be considered, how well the persons 
I recommend must have been qualified, by their 
education and profession, for the provinces as- 






MARMOR NORFOLCIENSE. 35 

signed them, the objection will grow less weighty 
than it appears. It is well known to be the con- 
stant study of the lawyers, to discover, in acts of 
parliament, meanings which escaped the com- 
mittees that drew them up, and the senates that 
passed them into laws, and to explain wills into 
a sense wholly contrary to the intention of the 
testator. How easily may an adept in these ad- 
mirable and useful arts, penetrate into the most 
hidden import of this prediction ? A man accus- 
tomed to satisfy himself with the obvious and 
natural meaning of a sentence, does not easily 
shake off his habit, but a true-bred lawyer never 
contents himself with one sense, when there is 
another to be found. 

Nor will the beneficial consequences of this 
scheme terminate in the explication of this mo- 
nument : they will extend much farther; for, the 
commentators having sharpened and improved 
their sagacity by this long and difficult course of 
study, will, when they return into public life, 
be of wonderful service to the government, in ex- 
amining pamphlets, songs, and journals, and 
in drawing up informations, indictments, and in- 
structions for special juries. They will be won- 
derfully fitted for the posts of attorney and so- 



36 MARMOR NORFOLCIENSE. 

licitor general, but will excel, above all, as licen- 
sers for the stage. 

The gentlemen of the army will equally adorn 
the province, to which I have assigned them, of 
setting the discoveries and sentiments of their 
associates in a clear and agreeable light. The 
lawyers are well known not to be very happy 
in expressing their ideas, being for the most part 
able to make themselves understood by none 
but their own fraternity. But the geniuses of 
the army have sufficient opportunities, by their 
free access to the levee and the toilet, their con- 
stant attendance at balls and assemblies, and that 
abundant leisure which they enjoy beyond any 
other body of men, to acquaint themselves with 
every new word and prevailing mode of expres- 
sion, and to attain the utmost nicety and most 
polished prettiness of language. 

It will be necessary, that, during their attend- 
ance upon the society, they be exempt from any 
obligation to appear on Hyde- Park ; and that 
upon no emergency, however pressing, they be 
called away from their studies, unless the nation 
be in immediate danger, by an insurrection of 
weavers, colliers, or smugglers. 

There may not, perhaps, be found in the army 
such a number of men, who have ever conde- 






MARMOR NORFOLCIENSE. 37 

scended to pass through the labors and irksome 
forms of education, in use among the lower 
classes of people, or submitted to learn the mer- 
cantile and plebeian arts of writing and reading : 
I must own, that though 1 entirely agree with 
the notions of the uselessness of any such trivial 
accomplishments in the military profession, and 
of their inconsistency with more valuable attain- 
ments ; — though I am convinced, that a man who 
can read and write becomes, at least, a very dis- 
agreeable companion to his brother soldiers, if 
he does not absolutely shun their acquaintance ; 
that he is apt to imbibe, from his books, odd no- 
tions of liberty and independency, and even 
sometimes of morality and virtue, utterly incon- 
sistent with the desirable character of a pretty 
gentleman; — though writing frequently stains the 
whitestfinger, and reading has a natural tendency 
to cloud the aspect, and depress that airy and 
thoughtless vivacity, which is the distinguishing 
characteristic of a modern warrior; — yet, on this 
single occasion, I cannot but heartily wish, that 
by a strict search there may be discovered, in the 
army, fifteen men who can write and read. 

I know that the knowledge of the alphabet is 
so disreputable among these gentlemen, that 
those who have by ill fortune formerly been 



88 MARM0R NORFOLCIENSE. 

taught it, have partly forgot it by disuse, and 
partly concealed it from the world, to avoid the 
railleries and insults to which their education 
might make them liable. I propose, therefore, 
that all the officers of the army may be examined 
upon oath, one by one ; and that, if fifteen cannot 
be selected, who are at present so qualified, the 
deficiency may be supplied out of those who, 
having once learned to read, may perhaps, with 
the assistance of a master, in a short time refresh 
their memories. 

It may be thought, at the first sight of this pro- 
posal, that it might not be improper to assign to 
every commentator, a reader and secretary; 
but it may be easily conceived, that not only 
the public might murmur at such an addition 
of expense, but that, by the unfaithfulness or 
negligence of their servants, the discoveries of 
the society may be carried to foreign courts, 
and made use of to the disadvantage of our own 
country. 

For the residence of this society, I cannot 
think any place more proper than Greenwich 
Hospital, in which they may have thirty apart- 
ments fitted up for them, that they may make 
their observations in private, and meet once a 
day, in the painted hall, to compare them. 



■ 



MARMOR NORFOLCIENSE. 39 

If the establishment of this society be thought 
a matter of too much importance to be deferred 
till the new buildings are finished, it will be ne- 
cessary to make room for their reception, by the 
expulsion of such of the seamen as have no 
pretensions to the settlements there, but fractur- 
ed limbs, loss of eyes, or decayed constitutions, 
who have lately been admitted in such numbers, 
that it is now scarce possible to accommodate a 
nobleman's groom, footman, or postilion, in a 
manner suitable to the dignity of his profession, 
and the original design of the foundation. 

The situation of Greenwich will naturally 
dispose them to reflection and study; and par^ 
ticular caution ought to be used, lest any inter- 
ruption be suffered to dissipate their attention, 
or distract their meditations : for this reason, all 
visits and letters from ladies are strictly to be 
prohibited ; and, if any of the members shall be 
detected with a lap-dog, pack of cards, box of 
dice, draught table, snuff-box, or looking-glass, 
he shall, for the first offence, be confined for 
three months to water gruel, and for the second, 
be expelled the society. 

Nothing now remains, but that an estimate be 
made of the expenses necessary for carrying on 
this noble and generous design. The salary to 



I 



40 MARMOR NORFOLCIENSE. 

be allowed each professor cannot be less than 
,£2000 a year, which is indeed more than the 
regular stipend of a commissioner of excise ; 
but it must be remembered, that the commenta- 
tors have a much more difficult and important 
employment, and can expect their salaries but 
for the short space of five years ; whereas a com- 
missioner (unless he imprudently suffers himself 
to be carried away by a whimsical tenderness for 
his country) has an establishment for life. 

It will be necessary to allow the society in 
general, ,£30,000 yearly, for the support of the 
public table, and ,£40,000 for secret service. 

Thus will the ministry have a fair prospect of 
obtaining the full sense and import of the predic- 
tion, without burthening the public with more 
than <£650,000, which may be paid out of the 
sinking fund ; or, if it be not thought proper to 
violate that sacred treasure, by converting any 
part of it to uses not primarily intended, may 
easily be raised by a general poll-tax, or excise 
upon bread. 

Having now completed my scheme, a scheme 
calculated for the public benefit, without regard 
to any party, I entreat all sects, factions, and 
distinctions of men among us, to lay aside for a 
time their party-feuds and petty animosities, and 



MARMOR NORFOLCIENSE. 41 

by a warm concurrence on this urgent occasion, 
teach posterity to sacrifice every private interest 
to the advantage of their country. 






[The preceding Pamphlet, by Dr. Samuel 
Johnson, was republished, in the year 1775 
with the following Preface and Notes, under 
the signature of " Tribunus ;" which will be 
found an useful appendage at this distant 
period.] 



PREFACE. 



To Samuel Johnson, LL.D. 

Sir, 
I had lately the following curious essay put into 
my hands, by a particular friend ; which, on ac- 
count of its great singularity and scarcity, I wish 
to rescue from oblivion ; and I know not how I 
can more effectually do this, than by connecting 
it with so great and illustrious a name, as your 
own ; which I hope will not excite your anger, 
or incur your resentment, as it is my intention to 
vindicate you from a charge, that, considering 
the contents of the essay itself, and your parti- 
cular political connections at this time, may be 
of infinite service, if not in augmenting your well 
earned Pension, (if that word give not offence,) 
yet in preventing any diminution or total abo- 
lition of it. 



44 



MARM0R NORFOLCIENSE. 



So extraordinary a performance as the follow- 
ing is, could not fail to excite a very eager de- 
sire of knowing the author ; when, to my great 
surprise, it was positively asserted to be the pro- 
duction of the masterly pen of Dr. Samuel 
Johnson. — I remonstrated, again and again, 
with my friend, upon the absurdity of the sur- 
mise; and pointed out innumerable passages, 
which I thought served to destroy his positive 
assertions. This only tended to increase his 
prejudices in favour of his own preconceptions, 
and confirm me in the resolution of republishing 
the essay, with such remarks as should invalidate 
every argument, and remove every suspicion, 
that savoured of its being the production of your 
pen : and, indeed, I flatter myself, that a shadow 
of doubt will not appear of your being the au- 
thor of it, when the whole has been perused, and 
compared with those two inimitable and unan- 
swerable pamphlets, with which you have 
obliged your royal master and our most graci- 
ous sovereign, and his able ministers ; I mean, 
the " False Alarm f and that most excellent 
vindication, entitled " Taxation no tyranny," 
of what the faction or whigs (which, by your 
excellent Dictionary, we are taught to be one 
and the same) call the most ominous system of 



MARMOR NORFOLCIENSE. 45 

despotism, that this or any other free state ever 
saw planned, and which their fanatical zeal most 
religiously reprobates. 

I urged in your vindication, learned sir, that 
it was impossible so pointed an attack on the 
glorious revolution; such bitter reflections, keen 
sarcasms, and personal invectives, against the 
illustrious House of Hanover, which are to be 
found in the following essay ; could proceed from 
the pen of the now renowned champion for the 
honour and glory of one of the house of Bruns- 
wick ; whose exaltation to the throne of these 
realms has ever been matter of the greatest dis- 
tress, trouble, and disappointment, to Tories 
and Jacobites ; neither of whom can ever dis- 
cover zeal or attachment to any reigning monarch, 
unless the maxims of his government should be 
the same with those, which, in their warmest 
wishes, they would desire to see the cursed and 
expelled race of the Stuarts adopt and pursue. 
This, indeed, may gain a temporary allegiance, 
and procure an outward show of obedience, as 
it would not only gratify their high-flown extra- 
vagant notions of hereditary right and unlimited 
authority, but afford some distant prospect and 
hope, that a deviation from all principles and 
maxims, that first, in the opinion of the whigs, 



46 



MARMOR NORFOLCIENSE. 



vindicated the deposition of the Stuarts, and 
elevation of the house of Hanover, might, by a 
happy train of political consequences, restore the 
imperial diadem to that head, round which, 
every Jacobite would wish to see it cast its here- 
ditary splendour, No man can be hardy enough 
to impute to Dr. Johnson, wishes or expecta- 
tions of such a nature, — more extravagant to his 
enlightened mind and loyal heart, than the doc- 
trine of ghosts and phantoms, or the pretensions 
to second sight in the Highlands of Scotland ; 
a country, whose poverty and barrenness you 
have, as a faithful historian, described and 
exposed, though treated with lettered hospi- 
tality, and partaking of every convenience that 
such a country could afford. Nor could you, 
sir, had you those predelictions in favour of the 
house of Stuart, that some would suggest, have 
missed so fair an opportunity of crediting that 
country, for those illustrious names that swayed 
the sceptre in this. 

The surmise, sir, that you are the author of 
the following essay, could only be designed to 
tarnish your unblemished reputation, or preju- 
dice you in the opinion of your royal master, the 
friendly rays of whose favor and protection have 
beneficently shone upon your merit ; not indeed 



MARMOR NORFOLCIENSE. 47 

by its irradiations to make it more conspicuous; — 
that were impossible, so unrivalled is your fame ; 
but to afford his affectionate subjects, indubita- 
ble proofs of his discernment and justice, of 
which, indeed, the far greater part of them re- 
quire no other evidences than what his Majesty 
has already afforded. 

And though the unsatisfied humours of some 
false pretenders to patriotism, have risen into 
ferments of opposition ; and they have more 
than hinted at a breach of the royal oath, solemn- 
ly sworn at his Majesty's coronation ; and talk- 
ed of the absolute treason of ministers against 
the state, — representing the measures, respecting 
America,aSi open, violent, and audacious breaches 
of the most sacred part of the Constitution; 
augmenting the utter destruction of Freedom, 
and establishment of Despotism : yet of these 
ominous fears and disastrous conjectures, we are 
happily freed by the late able vindication of these 
measures and ministers, in the late celebrated 
piece, entitled " Taxation no Tyranny ;" — 
wherein the charge of Rebellion is brought 
home against the Americans ; and their strug- 
gles for what they call Liberty, proved to be 
the froward opposition of disobedient children, 
and rebellious insurrections against the Parent 



48 MARMOR NORFOLCIENSE. 

State. — We see all their pretended claims as 
natural free-born subjects, refuted. — We are pe- 
remptorily told by Dr. Johnson, that the Ame- 
ricans resigned all right and title to the name, 
character, and immunities, of true-born English- 
men, when they insolently fled from opposition 
and tyranny, which here they complained of, 
and would not patiently endure ; and that they 
denuded themselves of all rights and just claims 
to privilege and protection, when their inflex- 
ible and pertinacious folly led them to a desert ; 
and, that the Atlantic washed clear away every 
relict of free subjects. 

We must now cease to pity their oppression, 
because you, sir, have proved them slaves ; their 
complaints must be deemed the voice of sedition, 
because Dr. Johnson declares their resistance 
Rebellion.— Let us leave, then, America to 
mourn her fate, which the high-born spirit of her 
yet untamed sons seems determined, if possible, 
to retard by resolute opposition and bold encoun- 
ter, in which some turbulent and equally rebel- 
lious sons at home, with anxious and forward 
zeal, wish them success ; and congratulate our 
native country, that has such a pious and ever 
watchful guardian on the throne, and such mi- 
nisters surrounding it, who are determined at all 



MARMOR NORFOLCIENSE. 49 

events, and at every desperate hazard, to sacri- 
fice all, even our own children, before one branch 
of the royal prerogative shall be lost, the omni- 
potence of parliament questioned, or the gran- 
deur of the British empire impaired. 

Can it remain a question, that the strenuous 
vindicator of the honour of the English crown, 
now worn by one of the illustrious house of Ha- 
nover, is the author of the essay in debate? or 
that you, sir, would receive a pension from that 
hand, which, according to the essayist, must 
sway the sceptre of Usurpation ? The degene- 
racy of the present times, though the dregs of 
Rome, will not allow of a suspicion that implies 
such a profligacy of mind, corruption of manners, 
and destitution of principles. 

The arguments I farther urged to disprove 
the assertion that you, sir, was the author of the 
following essay, were, that from the direct attack 
upon the Hanover succession, and invectives 
against the illustrious progenitors of our most 
gracious sovereign, it is manifest that the essayist 
was a high-flown Jacobite, and really wrote upon 
principle ; which he seems openly to avow, by 
the signature he assumes, of PROBUS BRI- 
TANICUS. Now, said I, can the very enemies 
of Dr. Johnson suppose that he could have 

H 



50 MARMOR NORFOLCIENSE. 

been the author of the essay, and yet, in so pub- 
lic and daring a manner, renounce every princi, 
pie therein adopted and inferred? Can it be 
imagined, that his probity and honor were so un- 
stable and pliable, as to become the easy pur- 
chase of the first state corrupter that should 
assail his virtue ? Or is it probable that he should 
revolt from the glaring principles of jacobitism, 
(if ever he had adopted them,) which your 
staunch tories hold with equal faith as they do 
their bibles, and which they defend with apos- 
tolic zeal ?— If, said I, the doctor had ever taken 
up this creed, T am thoroughly convinced that 
no consideration in the world would ever have 
induced him to discard it; he is pertinacious al- 
most to a fault ; and so fully convinced of his 
own tenets, that his best friends cannot produce 
one instance of his conviction. All the insinua- 
tions, that the doctor's former political principles 
leaned towards jacobitism, are refuted by the 
forward zeal he has shewn, and affection he has 
discovered, for his present Majesty and the 
righteous administration of his government. 
And if the story be true, (which I think much to 
be questioned,) that Dr. Johnson once refused 
to walk in the royal gardens, because in posses- 
sion of an Usurper, yet it does not appear to 



MARM0R NORFOLCIENSE. 51 

have been in the present reign ; and the elegant 
poem of London, the production of this learn- 
ed man, gives us a true picture of his mind, at 
least in the last. 

Here let those reign whom Pensions can invite 
To vote a Patriot black, a Courtier white ; 
Explain their Country'* s dear-bought rights away, 
And 'plead for Pirates in the face of day; 
With slavish tenets taint our poisoned youth, 
And lend a lie the confidence of truth. 

Thus driven out of every strong hold of 
argument and defence, my friend, sir, had re- 
course to those definitions of Pension and 
Pensioner, which have been so often bandied 
about, and to be found inscribed on that collos- 
sean column of fame, your Dictionary; and 
gravely read from it, the two following articles 
of your impeachment. 

PENSION. — An allowance made to any 
one without an equivalent : in England, 
it is generally understood to mean, pay 
given to a state-hireling for treason to 
his country. 
PENSIONER.— A slave of state, hired by a 

stipend to obey his master. 
These read ; with an air of triumph, he ex- 



52 MARMOR NORFOLCIENSE. 

claimed—" Now vindicate the doctor, if you 
can." The word equivalent gave the turn to my 
plea, and I peremptorily declared, that in the very 
sense of the lexicographer, his Majesty's boun- 
ty to you, sir, was not a pension ; since it must 
first be proved, that his Majesty is your master, 
and acknowledged such by you ; and that you 
obey him. — I next urged, that you had given 
him an ample equivalent for royal munificence.— 
" What !" replied he, with great quickness, " by 
giving up, in return, honour, character, consci- 
ence, and every thing that should distinguish a 
man!" 



To such the plunder of the land is given, 
When crimes inflame the wrath of angry heaven ! 

Poem of London. 



I answered this exclamatory interrogation, 
only with a smile of ineffable contempt.— As to 
the latter part of the description, viz. that a pen- 
sion is generally understood, in England, to 
mean pay given to a state-hireling for treason 
to his country, I replied — suppose Dr. John- 
son, or myself, choose to take the words in 
the Scotish acceptation of them ; and, if the 
idea of a state-hireling in that country doth 



MARMOR NORFOLCIENSE. 53 

not materially differ from that received in our 
own, the idea of Treason doth, or at least hath 
done, most essentially. 

Thus, sir, having I hope fully and unanswer- 
ably confuted the invidious charge, that you are 
the author of the following essay, and put it 
out of all doubt, or even a question, that you 
can be PROBUS BRITANICUS, T humbly 
take my leave ; careless on whom the charge or 
guilt may fall, now I have exculpated you : for 
I had no other design in view, than to do justice 
to your super-eminent merit and abilities, and to 
shew you to the public in your true character ; 
nor am I conscious of the least tincture of pride, 
mixing itself with this pure design ; no, not even 
the distant emulation with our most gracious so- 
vereign, whose high example and illustrious vir- 
tues I hope I shall never have the temerity or 
daring ambition to imitate. In you, sir, his pre- 
sent Majesty finds a firm, steady, and able, ad- 
vocate for the House of Brunswick, and conse- 
quently deems you as good a friend as he him- 
self wishes to the glorious revolution ; — a period, 
the blessings of which we almost cease to rejoice 
at, as they are nearly eclipsed by those manifold 
blessings we enjoy, under the mild and auspici- 
ous reign of George the Third; a prince, who 



54 . MARMOR NORFOLCIENSE. 

hath concentered in himself such rare qualities, 
that I will be bold enough to declare, he hath 
such a possession of the affections of the good 
people of England, and all true friends of the 
constitution, that they cannot love and revere 
him more. 

I am, with the profoundest respect 

and highest veneration, 

very learned sir, 

your most obedient and 

most humble servant, 

TRIBUNUS. 



NOTES. 



Page 8, line 12. 
" Like the Saxons of old, they came only to plunder it." 

The Scotch affect this, under these circumstances, at this 
very time. 



Page 8, last line. 
" Been naturalized and assimilated." 

This, perhaps, will account for the extraordinary gratitude 
and affection, discovered by our present gracious sovereign : 
but the inuendo, and coarse compliment to his royal prede- 
cessors, plainly prove that this could not have been written 
by Dr. Johnson, who is so remarkable for politeness and 
courtly manners. 



Page 9, line 8. 
" Of which the natural sterility secured them from invasion.'' 

The Electorate of Hanover is not remarkable for well-built 
towns, fertile fields, or waving harvests. 



#56 MARIMOR NORFOLCIENSE. 

N.B. Dt\ Johnson has made ihe like observations on 
Scotland, in his voyage to the Hebrides. 



Page 9, line 24. 

" Claim of hereditary right.'' 
Could the defenders of the illustrious house of Hanover 
ever have pensioned such a jacobitical libeller of the first 
illustrious heroes of the Brunswick line ? 



Page 11, line 13. 
'«. Every excellence is inherent in a king." 

Without yielding, in the least, to the suspicion that 
Dr. Johnson is the author of this Essay, we may venture to 
suggest, that perhaps the doctor's loyalty may be owing to 
such a predilection in favour of monarchy. 



Page 12, line 6. 

" By some specious fallacy." 

I wish, said my friend, invidiously, that Dr. Johnson had 
proceeded with the same caution and diffidence, had re 
viewed his arguments, and traced out his first principles, 
&c. before he had sent forth into the world his " False 
Alarm," and " Taxation no Tyranny." 



Page 13, line 24. 
" No remarkable solicitude for posterity." 



j 



MARMOR NORFOLCIENSE. 57 

Had the author lived in good George the Third's reign, 
he must have altered his opinion, as he would have seen such 
economy in the prince in the expenditure, and such modes- 
ty in the prime minister in raising the supplies, with such 
remarkable solicitude for posterity, that the happiness of the 
present age seems almost totally neglected. 



Page 15, line 16. 
" Zeal for the liberty and welfare of ages to come." 

This could never have been written by Dr. Samuel 
Johnson ; his experience would have set the remark in the 
following order : the smiles of a Prince, and the enjoyment 
of a pension, have been found of wonderful efficacy to fix 
men's thoughts on the present times and measures, be they 
ever so profligate and ruinous j and to fill them with zeal in 
support of them, regardless of ages to come. 



Page 22, line 10. 
" And devoured, by vermin and by reptiles." 
To impute such sentiments as these, so highly injurious to 
the gentlemen of the sword, from whose spirit and activity 
Dr. Johnson and Lord North expect the total subduction of 
America, to this ingenious writer, would be a manifest injus- 
tice and absurdity. I chuse to mention this particularly, 
because I should think the writer's nose, if not his life, 
would stand but a bad chance from some of our military 
gentry. 



58 MARMOR NORFOLCIENSE. 

Page 28, line 20. 
" Dangerous to the author, whether true or false." 

Could the author of the "False Alarm,'* and "Taxa- 
tion no Tyranny," be ever supposed to have written this 
virulent attack ?— *No ! Conjecture itself is put to flight. 



Page 32,line 12. 
" Vindicate a ministry like ours." 

If this had been written by Dr. Johnson, it could not 
have failed, long ago, to have been turned against him by 
some of his adversaries j and, indeed, it would have been a 
difficult thrust to have parried, or a hard stroke to have 
borne. 



Page 32, line 26. 
" Insert the inscription in a paper," 

The paper here alluded to, and so frequently mentioned 
in this pamphlet, was called the Gazetteer. It was published 
at a heavy and unpardonable public expense, for the base 
purpose of defending the measures of Sir Robert Walpole, 
in parliament. The best writers, the Johnsons of his time, 
were paid and pensioned by government, for their essays 
written in praise of a prostituted premier and his tools. 



Page 37, line 24. 
" In the army, fifteen men who can write and read." 

Considering the great dependence upon the army, and 
the frequent reviews which his Majesty delights to take of 



MARMOR NORFOLCIENSE. 59 

his troops, together with Dr. Johnson's present pay and 
good quarters, I wish he would exculpate himself from the 
charge of being the writer of this pamphlet, under his own 
hand and proper signature. lam afraid, his reputation may 
suffer under my unskilful vindication. 



Page 40, line 17. 
" Which may be paid out of the sinking fund." 

I wonder, says my friend, from what fund the doctor's 
pension is derived ! — The privy purse, replied I. — From 
whence is that filled ? quoth he. — There is no end in answer- 
ing such questions, said I. — Thus disputing every inch of 
ground, and fighting all the lines through, of this extraordi- 
nary political field, I put my adversary to flight ; not with- 
out some distant hopes of being noticed by the learned and 
ingenious doctor in his next patriotic publication, or receiv- 
ing myself some beneficent token of royal favor and protec- 
tion, to which, with all modesty, I think myself as much en- 
titled, as some whom the king, in the exuberance of his 
bounty, hath delighted to honor* 



THE END, 



Maurice, Printer, Fenchurch-street. 







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